The speech and the "Mission Accomplished" banner were swiftly criticized by people who pointed out that the war was hardly over. Media questions about the banner appeared to surprise U.S. government officials, who initially offered different accounts of its origin and its meaning. Bush was criticized for the historic jet landing on the carrier as an overly theatrical and expensive stunt. For instance, it was pointed out that the carrier was well within range of Bush's
helicopter, and that a jet landing was not needed. Originally,
White House officials had said the carrier was too far off the California coast for a helicopter landing and a jet would be needed to reach it. On the day of the speech, the
Lincoln was only from shore, but the administration still decided to go ahead with the jet landing. White House spokesman
Ari Fleischer admitted that Bush "could have helicoptered, but the plan was already in place. Plus, he wanted to see a landing the way aviators see a landing." Navy Cmdr. Conrad Chun, a
Pentagon spokesman, said the banner referred specifically to the aircraft carrier's 10-month deployment (the longest carrier deployment since the
Vietnam War) and not the war itself: "It truly did signify a mission accomplished for the crew." The White House claimed that the banner was requested by the crew of the ship, who did not have the facilities for producing such a banner. Later, the administration and naval sources said that the banner was the Navy's idea, White House staff members made the banner, and it was hung by Navy sailors. White House spokesman
Scott McClellan told
CNN, "We took care of the production of it. We have people to do those things. But the Navy actually put it up." According to
John Dickerson of
Time magazine, the White House later conceded that they hung the banner but still insisted it had been done at the request of the crew members. crewSubsequently, the White House released a statement saying that the sign and Bush's visit referred to the initial invasion of Iraq. When he received an advance copy of the speech, U.S. Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld took care to remove any use of the phrase "Mission Accomplished" in the speech itself. Later, when journalist
Bob Woodward asked him about his changes to the speech, Rumsfeld responded: "I was in
Baghdad, and I was given a draft of that thing to look at. And I just died, and I said my God, it's too conclusive. And I fixed it and sent it back... they fixed the speech, but not the sign." Bush did offer a "Mission Accomplished" message to the troops in Afghanistan at Camp As Sayliyah on June 5, 2003 – about a month after the aircraft carrier speech: "America sent you on a mission to remove a grave threat and to liberate an oppressed people, and that mission has been accomplished." For critics of the war, the photo-op became a symbol of the
Bush administration's unrealistic goals and perceptions of the conflict. Anti-war activists questioned the integrity and realism of Bush's "major combat" statement. The banner came to symbolize the irony of Bush giving a victory speech only a few weeks after the beginning of the fifth longest war in American history. In a less publicized incident, Rumsfeld also declared an end to major combat operations in
Afghanistan on May 1, a few hours before Bush's announcement. ==Subsequent events==